Pre-Trip Paris
Saturday, the eve of the journey, tour members arriving from Canada and the US gather together for their first briefing at the Parisian Hotel de Mercure, Gare d'est. The elegant 19th century rail station is the traditional departure point for rail journeys heading eastwards from Paris; including the fabled Orient Express and our hotel is just across the street.
Bicycles are assembled and readied for the journey by the skilled hands of Randy; tour guide and a veteran of two Tour d'Afrique voyages. The briefing Saturday evening by Henry Gold tour founder, and Randy, the co director is followed by an African meal in the lively St. Denis quarter of Paris, a neighborhood filled to the brim with people eating, drinking and just standing around until late in the evening. Some of the group members are Tour d'Afrique veterans, for others this is a first-ever bicycle journey. Walter, a Vancouverite seeing Paris for the first time, makes a summary remark about the merriment in St. Denis. “never, never seen so many people out on the streets at night.†And this is only one tiny taste of Paris.
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Posted July 30, 2005 by Randy Pielsticker
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